Field of the Invention
This application relates to a program for a smartcard, a smartcard and a method for writing, using and updating tickets stored on a smartcard.
Description of the Related Technology
Electronic payment cards such as credit and debit cards are a ubiquitous form of payment for goods and services. Modern cards have one or more microchips embedded within them and are often referred to as smartcards. The microchip may be powered up when the smartcard is inserted into a suitable reader. A contactless card needs merely be held near the reader and the microchip is powered up by inductive or capacitive coupling techniques. As contactless technology has developed and gained wider acceptance, microchips have been inserted into other devices such as key fobs, key rings and mobile phones. A mobile phone may contain an application that performs payment processing in a similar manner to a contactless smartcard, and typically a payment terminal is unaware of how a given payment device is physically embodied. Thus the term ‘payment device’ is regarded as including smartcards, key fobs, key rings and mobile phones.
Smartcards can be used for storing records with data. The data may relate to the cardholder or to a payment transaction but is not limited thereto. The records are called ‘tickets’ because of their common use for storing other than payment information, such as travel information, on smartcards and to distinguish them from records used for storing payment related data.
Present day smartcards using tickets are often used in a closed payment system, i.e. a relatively narrow field of card acceptors defined by the card issuer. For example, a transport system operator may issue payment cards that can only be used for payment of travel on the system. A hotel chain may have its own smartcards for recording room preferences of the cardholder and any loyalty scheme data such as regular guest bonus points.
It would be desirable if the use of a smartcard with ticketing could be used in an open payment system and not be restricted to such narrow fields but be extended over several fields, thereby reducing the number of cards the user must carry and improving the convenience of use. U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,208 B2 describes a smartcard that allows card acceptors to write ticket data onto the smartcard in their proprietary format, thereby admitting new card acceptors for ticketing even after issue of the card. The card incorporates a payment and a transit application. A disadvantage of this known smartcard is its relatively slow speed of operation, which may affect its use in contactless access points near gates, where the transit time of the card holder is short.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a program for a payment device having a higher speed of operation but maintaining compatibility with access points without ticket interaction.